Force, crashes on takeoff from Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Vietnam. All three people on board survive. 9 March French General Charles Ailleret, chief of France's general staff, is killed in crash of L'Armée de L'Air Douglas DC-6B, 43748, F-RAFB, c/n 43748/314, shortly after takeoff from Saint-Denis, Réunion, in the Indian Ocean. En route to Paris, the transport failed to turn toward the ocean after lift off and struck a hill at 2317 h. 27 March While on a routine training flight out of Chkalovsky Air Base, Kosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin (Seregin) die in a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15UTI, c/n 612739, callsign 625, crash near the town of Kirzhach. Gagarin and Seryogin were buried in the walls of the Kremlin on Red Square. It is not certain what caused the crash, but a 1986 inquest suggests that the turbulence from a Su-11 "Fishpot-C" interceptor using its afterburners may have caused Gagarin's plane to go out of control. Russian documents declassified in March 2003 showed that the KGB had conducted their own investigation of the accident, in addition to one government and two military investigations. The KGB's report dismissed various conspiracy theories, instead indicating that the actions of air base personnel contributed to the crash. The report states that an air traffic controller provided Gagarin with outdated weather information, and that when Gagarin flew, conditions had deteriorated significantly. Ground crew also left external fuel tanks attached to the aircraft. His planned flight activities needed clear weather and no outboard tanks. The investigation concluded that Gagarin's aircraft entered a spin, either due to a bird strike or because of a sudden move to avoid another aircraft. Because of the out-of-date weather report, the crew believed their altitude to be higher than it actually was, and could not properly react to bring the MiG-15 out of its spin. 11 April Douglas A-4F Skyhawk, BuNo 154995, of VA-93, USS Bon Homme Richard, is lost during ferry flight from NAS Cubi Point, the Philippines, to the carrier this date. Extensive search turns up no trace of plane or pilot CDR Frederick H. Whittemore, USN. May RAF Armstrong Whitworth Argosy C.1, XP444, of No. 70 Squadron RAF, departing a successful deployment in Libya, makes a "flypast" at a small airstrip called Gott-el-Afraq, hits water tower, crashes, killing all 22 on board. 6 May Astronaut Neil Armstrong ejects from Bell Aerospace Lunar Landing Research Vehicle